CSUSM exhibit trashes racial stereotypes

The images are offensive. The faces of those tearing them up, empowered.

“Beyond the Stereotype,” a campaign aimed at educating the public and campus community about the hurtful consequences of cultural appropriation, kicked off at Cal State San Marcos University’s Kellogg Library last week. The exhibit of six thought-provoking posters was created by the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center on campus.

Courtesy photo

A new series of thought provoking posters -- "Beyond the Stereotype" -- will be on display through May at the Kellogg Library at California State University San Marcos, exploring contemporary issues of cultural appropriation and social justice.

A new series of thought provoking posters -- "Beyond the Stereotype" -- will be on display through May at the Kellogg Library at California State University San Marcos, exploring contemporary issues of cultural appropriation and social justice. (Courtesy photo)

“It’s not about victimization,” center Director Joely Proudfit said during the reception. “It’s about empowerment. They’re turning this stereotypical culturally misappropriate images and saying, ‘There’s more to me than you see.’”

The six posters in the exhibit show CSUSM students holding a picture of somebody dressed as a stereotype of each student’s heritage. A Latino student holds a photo of someone in a Halloween costume dressed as a Mexican bandit. A Native American woman holds a photo of a laughing blonde woman dressed as a squaw.

And in each, the students are staring at the camera, proud but not smug, tearing the photo in half.

Arturo Ocampo, the university’s ombudsman and associate vice president of diversity, education equity and inclusion, said the images will help start a dialogue about race. He added that the exhibit is part of a larger campaign that is in part a response to an incident less than two years ago when some CSUSM students dressed in a way Latino students found offensive and mocking.

The poster design was a collaborative effort, and photographer Megan Doughty had the idea of the showing people ripping up offensive photos.

“I thought if I had an image like that, I’d want to rip it to shreds,” she said.

Doughty, who graduated from CSUSM about two years ago with a degree in visual and performing arts, is the creative director of the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center.

While students do the ripping, Doughty recruited some friends to get in costume.

“I had some friends of mine who are amazing and willing to dress up in these horrible costumes,” she said.

Each poster is topped with the words, “There is more to me than what you see. Beyond the stereotype there is history.”

In the background of each poster is a more subtle picture of an important historical or contemporary figure who balances the offensive pictures.

The center worked with CSUSM students, the Office of Diversity, Student Life & Leadership, the Civility Campaign, the Public Relations Club, the American Indian Student Alliance and several interdisciplinary classes and student research projects to create the posters.

“My class has done a lot of interesting, lively projects, but this is the first time they’ve taken on cultural misappropriation head-on, and I think it’s by far the best campaign of its kind in the country,” Proudfit said.

The exhibit may hit close to home for some at the campus. In May 2013, a few dozen students protested on campus and called for school officials to do more to promote racial sensitivity after some sorority members posted pictures of themselves dressed as “cholas” — Latina gang members or hoodlums — on social media sites.

The protesters said the images were offensive to Latinos, and ombudsman Ocampo met with them during a sit-in and offered to set up meetings with administrators.

“After that event happened, a lot of students were saying, ‘What are some of the things that we can do?’” he said. “People kept coming up with ideas, and before you knew it, we were rolling out this campaign.”

Proudfit said the project took 13 months to complete and was delayed because it originally involved copyrighted images that were scraped in favor of shooting original photos.

Ocampo said he will have short lessons, resources, links to articles and videos and other relevant information online for other teachers and the public to access at the website

The lessons have more to do with simply why an image may be offensive to somebody, he said.

“If you believe something is true, you will eventually act in a way that it is true,” he said. “The consequences of stereotypes and cultural appropriation impacts hirings, promotions, and who gets arrested and detained by law enforcement,” he said.

The posters will be on display through May 22 at the library, which is open 6 a.m. — midnight Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. — 5 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. — 5 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. — 8 p.m. Sundays.